1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for resiliently resisting standing body-bending motions to exercise deep abdominal and back muscles.
2. Background Art
In recent years, apparatuses for training muscles have increasingly entered the market. A few decades back, everything started from an ordinary barbell, which also presently continues to be a very popular general exercise apparatus. Today, there are versatile multifunctional apparatuses with solutions for exercising nearly all individual muscles separately in the market. In addition, there are apparatuses for exercising a certain muscle or group of muscles. The multitude of equipment on offer today is a jungle of brand manufactures fighting for clients with various means. At times the quality, and at times the price, is the factor, which triggers the reaction to buy. Earlier, there were mostly inexpensive exercise apparatuses in the market; today, gyms with their expensive exercise equipment parks dominate the field. In these days, people are not supposed to sweat at home. As regularly as they were earlier doing barbell exercises at home or in their basement, now, instead, they go to professionally run gym exercise sessions, where, as needed, they change from one expensive exercise apparatus to another. And, when they come back home, they devote their time to lighter hobbies, such as their computer.
Regardless, at an accelerating rate today, man's biggest physical problems continue to include back problems, especially in the lumbar region. One explanation for this is irregular exercising. It is true that, today, people take care of their physical fitness, but, in reality, very few individuals exercise regularly. The threshold to exercise daily is too high, if the gym is the venue for physical stress. There simply is not enough time. For improving a person's physical fitness, a minimum of 30 minutes of regular exercise each day is needed. But, it is surprising that only 3 to 5 minutes of daily back exercises are needed for the back. Why, then, so many backs are in bad shape, if the solution is to be found in a few minutes of daily exercises. There simply is no easy-to-use apparatus for a person inclined to enjoy comfort to bother with. A person can do proper exercises without any equipment, but, to start doing such exercises may seem both boring and difficult. First you lie on your back and repeatedly raise your feet and hands simultaneously about 15 cm from the floor for 2 minutes; and then you repeat this lying on your stomach. This exercise would be a solution for keeping a person's back in good shape, but, for various reasons, many people find lying on the floor unpleasant and difficult. One reason is that it might be physically impossible for a person to get into a lying position on the floor if, for instance, he/she has a big stomach or his/her legs are hurting. For the same reasons, people do not use folding benches for exercising abdominal and back muscles at home. And, the barbell is not suitable a suitable means of physical therapy for the back. Taking into consideration that research has proved that abdominal and back exercises done standing up are the most natural way in respect to the physiology of man's back, it can be stated that there are not many home exercise apparatuses designed which employ methodology. Among the most usual home exercise equipment are the barbell, the bullworker, a spring with handles, an arched board, a bench for exercising abdominal and back muscles, a rowing exercise apparatus, an exercise bike, a stepper, and rather big equipment for exercising the entire body. Among these, the arched board and the Ab Bench are the only ones directed at exercising abdominal and back muscles. These exercises are done lying down, which has been shown not to be as effective as exercises done standing up. We are talking here about the deep abdominal and back muscles, which, according to studies done in recent years, are the muscles supporting the dorsal disk, and, consequently, keeping the back healthy. To keep these muscles in shape, the best exercise position is the standing position, in which the strain on the back is evenly distributed and it is safe to do the exercise movements also when a person's back is hurting. The standing position is also the position, which is most favorable, for instance, in case of an overweight body. It is difficult for a heavy person to crawl to lie down in a horizontal position and do the exercises and then stand back up from the floor. The Finnish invention, FI 940623, is an apparatus for exercising deep abdominal and back muscles in a standing position. Its structure is heavy and it is expensive and actually designed for gym and corporate use. The apparatus consists of one long flexible frame, which has three body support points attached to it, which allow the frame to be bent with the help of the body. The frame is in a way attached to the body in three places, generating a counterforce when bending the body from the waist either forward or backward, depending on whether the exercises are directed at the abdominal or back muscles. Consequently, as it feels rather heavy and has a multitude of adjustment mechanisms, the apparatus is impractical. As it does not stand on its own support base or have a backing, as the operator's legs are tied at the ankles to the lowest cross support, this may create a danger to the body when trying to keep it in balance. In the event the person falls down, it is practically impossible to detach him/herself from the cross support, and the consequences may be rather disastrous. For safety reasons, the exercises have to be performed using a wall as the background support in case of falling down. This is very cumbersome. The frame is another disadvantage as it is uncomfortably close to the face. In order for it not to hurt the face, the surface of the upper support facing the person has to be at a distance from the actual frame. The solution used for this is a collar-like harness on the shoulders. The harness has to be always adjusted to the operator's length and chest size. Hence, the apparatus has the means for length, depth, and width adjustment. As the point where the harness is attached to the body is far from the frame, the middle support has to also project from the frame. As for the bottom leg support, the person doing the exercises has to know how to adjust it correctly so that it supports the ankles. The apparatus is intended for easy back exercises, which can also be done in any situation. It has been proven that regular, circa 3 minutes of daily exercise is enough to keep a person's back in good shape. The apparatus does not make the operator sweat or wrinkle his/her clothing; hence, daily exercises may be performed just before leaving for a party, e.g., wearing a suit and a tie. So, this is possible with an exercise apparatus where the exercises are done standing up. The operator only turns a half a circle in the apparatus when changing to exercise another muscle group, i.e., from abdominal muscle exercises to back muscle exercises. Research has shown that very small movements against a counterforce are used for exercising deep abdominal and back muscles. Based on the above, the Finnish apparatus for exercising back muscles should have the preconditions for becoming popular among people with busy lifestyle. But, it has also been explained above why this has not happened. The apparatus is too complicated and, for this reason, undeniably too expensive for a mass product. Technophysiologically, the apparatus does meet the criteria for an optimally operating apparatus for exercising deep abdominal and back muscles, but, as stated many times, the apparatus's own technical solution is too complex and expensive for the apparatus to become people's daily means of exercise. One of the factors contributing to the expensive solution that can be mentioned is the requirement that both the upper support and middle support have to be at a certain distance from the frame. This has resulted in the expensive solutions in regard to the frame attachments. As the supports have to be always adjusted to the operator's measurements, this is so tedious that the threshold for instinctive use of the apparatus is too high.
How to produce a solution that is technically inexpensive and simple enough, which would still meet the technophysiological prerequisites for optimally effective exercising of abdominal and back muscles remains a problem.